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Nick Saban will try to avenge Alabama's only 2012 loss this Saturday in College Station, TX (Wikipedia)

As the new kids on the Southeastern Conference block, Texas A&M has really hit the ground running with a 6-2 conference record and a Heisman Trophy winner, both highlighted during last season’s big win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Aggies’ stadium, Kyle Field, is getting a 20,000-seat upgrade to a capacity of over 102,000.

Texas A&M-Alabama isn’t a traditional rivalry, but it’s quickly developing the makings of one. There’s even a significant piece of shared history – legendary Tide coach Bear Bryant came to the school in 1958 after a four-year run at A&M, where he led the “Junction Boys” to a 25-14-2 record.

To compare and contrast just for fun, here’s a sample of the two schools’ football history, by the numbers:

All-time Series

Alabama 3

Texas A&M 2

Saturday marks just the second meeting since 1988. Alabama recovered from last year’s loss to win the national title, but losing the unbeaten season had to smart a little bit.

But the Aggies are climbing. Especially with those extra stadium seats coming.

Alabama

Nick Saban

Age 61

Salary: $5.6 million

Record at Alabama: 69-13

Record overall: 160-55-1

National titles: 4

Texas A&M Coach

Kevin Sumlin

Age 49

Salary: $3.1 million

Record at Texas A&M 13-2

Record overall: 48-19

National titles: 0

Saban won his third title at Alabama in 2012, but Sumlin beat him head-to head and took home SEC coach of the year honors.

Coaches’ Conference Link: Big 10

Sumlin played at Purdue and coached as an assistant at Purdue and Minnesota. Saban assisted at Ohio State and Michigan State in the 1980s, and then later returned to Michigan State as head coach during latter half of the 1990s.

Common Coach

Paul (Bear) Bryant

The Bear went 25-14-2 at A&M from 1954 to 1957, a run he leveraged into the Bama job that made him a legend (232 wins and six national titles over 25 years).

All-time Records

Alabama: 827-321-43

Texas A&M: 639-452-48

And just think, those tie columns will never change again.

National Championships

Alabama: 15

Texas A&M: 3

But the 1919 Aggies’ championship team went undefeated, untied and unscored upon under coach Dana Bible.

Heisman Trophy Winners:

Alabama -1 (Mark Ingram)

Texas A&M – 2 (John David Crowe, Johnny Manziel)

Crowe won his as a halfback in 1957 under, yes, Bear Bryant.

Alabama recruits from the state of Texas: 6

Texas A&M recruits from the state of Alabama: 0

A&M hasn’t reached Alabama-like levels of out-of-state recruiting. Of course when your state is Texas, that may not matter so much.